No Such Thing
by toxic-dreamer-2
Summary: Are You A Believer?.....
1. Chapter 1

**I really don't know what to say about this, but I hope everyone enjoys!**

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It was late, nearly two o'clock in the morning, and the house had lapsed into an unnatural silence. The TV was off, and not even the hum of electricity could be heard lingering in the air. 

A five-year-old boy crawled out from beneath his covers and slowly slid his bare feet down off the bed and onto the floor. He had awoken to a sudden chill in the air, and the feeling that someone had been standing over him. He grabbed his glasses off his night stand and cautiously looked around the room with big hazel brown eyes.

"Hello?"

He almost turned back to his bed when he got no response, but froze when he saw a shadow move pass the door outside his room.

"Gazzy?" he called, hoping his four-year-old sister had gotten out of her bed and was currently wandering the halls.

"Is dat you?" He asked, taking a few hesitant steps forward so that he was now directly in front of the door.

He reached up with his small hand and turned the knob, tensing as he pushed and it slowly creaked open. From what he could see, the hall in front of him was empty, and his sister's door, which was located across from his, was still closed shut.

He peeked his head out, his pointy black hair being the first of him to emerge from his room, and he looked back and forth down the hall.

"Hello?" He asked. "Is anybody out dare?"

When no one answered, he walked out into the hall and began to look around curiously. He was sure he had seen something move outside his door, and he couldn't get back to sleep until he found out what.

He walked down the hall and stopped at the top of the stairs. The living room was void of any lights and so it looked like the stairs went down into nothing but pure darkness. Being more curious than fearful, he used the wall as support and ventured down the stairs, barely recognizing the place as his home now that the sun had gone down.

When he reached the bottom, he couldn't see much of anything, and he felt like he did whenever Gaz stole his glasses off his face and hid them somewhere in the house. He frowned at the thought, even though his dad had said it was just a phase, he couldn't help but think his sister would always be this mean to him.

Distracted, he stumbled on the living room rug and let out a slight whimper when he fell on his face. He got back on his feet and rubbed his cheek, gasping when he heard something in the basement below him.

_'A monster?' _he wondered. _'Or a ghost?' _

The door to the basement started to creak open and the little boy hurried behind the living room couch and covered his face with his hands. He could hear the creature as it made its way into the living room and came closer toward his hiding spot.

_'Oh no,' _the boy thought. _'Its gonna eat me!' _

He slowly pulled his hands away from his face and dared to look up from where he was hiding.

_'I'm a big boy'_ he told himself.

However, his eyes widened in fear when they looked up into the bright glowing eyes of the creature standing in the middle of the room. It was dark, and so the eyes were all that could be seen, floating amongst the darkness. The eyes looked around, as if searching for something, and then finally began to move forward. The boy crawled out of his spot a little further, in fear and fascination. It sounded like the creature had hit the end of the table, 'cause it let out a frustrated grunt and turned it's eyes in the other direction; exactly where the boy was watching.

With a slight yell of surprise the boy covered his face again.

"Don't eat me!" he cried, unable to move.

He could hear the creature's steps coming toward him, and he jumped when he felt it touch the top of his head.

"AH!"

Pushing himself back against the wall, he watched as the eerie glowing eyes looked away, and the sound of the lamp switch soon followed.

"Son, what are you doing up at this hour?"

The area around him became visible and he felt relief wash over him as he stared up into his father's goggles.

"Dad!" he jumped forward and hugged his father's leg, earning a pat on the head.

"There, there, son," his father said, his voice barely expressing the concern those words were meant to hold. "Why aren't you up in your room?"

The little boy let go of his father's leg and looked up at him in excitement.

"Dad, you won't believes it! I saw dis shadow and I went to 'vesitgate!" he exclaimed. "I bets it was a ghost, like on TV."

His father shook his head and the boy's smile faded.

"There are no such things as ghosts, son," he told him. "You should be watching more fundamentally educational shows."

The boy blinked, confused.

"But...I saw it." he replied in a low tone.

His father bent down on one knee in front of him, so that they were now at more equal heights.

"What you saw was an hallucination brought on by lack of sleep," His father explained placing a hand on his sons shoulder. "Or perhaps even a nightmare, hm?"

"Oh." the boy frowned. "I guess so."  
"Good then" His father stood. "Now hurry up to bed, son. You're a growing boy and your brain needs sleep in order to function."

"Will you come tuck me in, dad?" The little boy asked, hopefully.

"Sorry, son," His father replied. "I'm already behind schedule and they need me at the lab immediately."

"How come?" The boy asked. "Can'ts they wait?"

"Of course not." His father laughed, but the look of confusion of his sons face told him that the joke was obviously lost on him.

He sighed.

"You'll understand when you're older." He told his son, who looked somewhat disappointed.

"Oh."

"Now hurry up stairs and don't wake your sister." His father patted his head again. "I'll have breakfast made when you get up later."

The little boy sighed as he watched his father turn to leave, certain that breakfast would be served by some mechanical drone and he would be greeted by his father's face behind a computer screen.

"Bye, dad," He said as his father reached the door. "I loves you."

"You too, son," His father called back as he shut the door behind him.

Once again in the dim lighted room, the little boy frowned and started toward the staircase.

As he trudged up the stairs, one of his hands using the wall as a guide, he wondered again about the shadow that had passed his door. He hadn't been having a nightmare, and he was wide awake when he saw it...and if his dad was down stairs the whole time...

_'It had to be a ghost' _

Almost immediately his fathers word came back to him, a phrase that would unknowingly stay with him throughout his whole life._'There are no such things, son.'_

He made his way to his room and crawled back into bed, leaving his glasses on so that he could admire the stars outside his window.

He felt his eye lids get heavy and pulled the cover close to him, protectively.

"G'night" He whispered to no one, and he smiled when he felt the cover pull closer around his shoulder.

Despite what his father had said, and whatever logic he had used, he refused to believe that he was truly ...alone.

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**Please review.**


	2. Do You Believe?

**I hadn't really planned on writing more, but somehow it just happened. So here's a another little moment in the life of young Dib. Enjoy!**

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Seven-year-old Dib watched from his spot on the living room couch as his father strode into the room, flipping through a stack of letters he had gotten in the mail.

"Hmm...fan-mail,...fan-mail,...letter of recognition,...Nobel prize," His father listed of each item as he tossed it on the living room table. "Junk mail,...letter from the president,...hmm..."

He paused when he reached a rather thin looking magazine, and then let out a slight snort before shaking his head.

Interested, Dib used the remote to turn the TV off and hopped down.

"What is it, dad?" he asked.

His father looked over at him startled.

"Oh, hello son," he replied, just noticing the little boys presence. "Shouldn't you be in school?"

Dib looked at his dad strangely.

"It's not time for school," he stated. "Dis is summer."

"Oh, so it is." His father nodded and then turned his attention to the rest of his mail, disregarding Dib's previous question.

However, the little boy felt somewhat hopeful when his father absentmindedly handed him the magazine from the top of the pile.

"Why don't you get rid of this for me, son."

Dib eagerly accepted the magazine, ignoring his father's request as he scanned the cover with his thick round glasses. The background was dark blue, dotted with white to represent stars, in the center was an image of a disk-like saucer with small windows and fire shooting out the back like a rocket. Dib squinted to better understand the bright yellow lettering above the picture.

"Fly'n saucers...and UFOs," He read each word carefully and felt a strange warmth rise in him.

His father took this moment to glance down, and while most parents would be thrilled to see their child reading at such a young age, the professor felt somewhat disturbed by his son's choice of material.

"Now, son," he said in his best fatherly voice. "You don't need to be filling your head with this kind of nonsense."

Dib looked up and frowned.

"But I was just-"

"About to put that in the trash?" His father finished, carefully taking the magazine from his son's hands, and trying not to sound too demanding.

"We have plenty of books around here that you could read instead."

Dib scrunched up his face in thought.

"But they're boooring." he complained, "And the words are big and there's no pictures like dis one."

His father bent down, about to stress the importance of educational reading material to his son, when his wrist watch started beeping frantically.

"Hm, looks like I'm late again," His dad mumbled down at the device before pressing a button on the side of his goggles.

"Simons," he called, and Dib already knew that his father attention was elsewhere. "Stall for time and tell the committee that I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Yes, Sir!" Came a voice from his dad's goggles. "We can't go on without you, Sir!"

He pressed the side of his goggles again, switching them off, and gave Dib a brief look before standing.

"I'm about to attend a very important meeting, son, and I might not be back til late," He explained. "See that you and your sister are at the table by six and the automatic dinner system will be active."

Dib nodded, finding this to be the usual routine in his life; In fact, he couldn't even recall a time when his father had actually cooked them a meal on his own. With a pat on the head, his father walked toward the door without so much as a goodbye, tossing the magazine into a small trash bin by the door before leaving.

Dib found himself studying the bin for quite some time, knowing he shouldn't disobey his father, but wanting to retrieve the magazine for himself.

"Where's Dad?"

Dib jumped and looked over at his little sister Gaz who was now standing at the bottom of the stairs, a red crayon clutched in one hand and a piece of paper in the other.

Dib pointed toward the door. "He had a meeting."

Gaz looked at the door for a moment and then shrugged as she made her way toward the table. She paused in front of him to stick out her tongue, and Dib returned the gesture with crossed eyes.

"I bet dad left 'cause you was bein' dumb," She told him as she set her things on the table next to the mail.

"Nuh uh," Dib protested. "Probably smelled you comin' down."

Gaz glared over at him and, even at the age of six and with a cute pink bow atop her head, she still looked threatening enough to silence his teasing.

"So, um, watcha draw'n?" Dib asked trying to peer over his sister's shoulder to see what she was working on.

"A monster," Gaz replied glancing back at him. "I'm gonna let it eat you."

Dib took a step closer.

"Dad says there's no such thing." He stated, matter-of-fact.

Gaz just shrugged and turned back to her paper.

With a sigh Dib found his eyes travel toward the trash bin once again, and he bit his lower lip momentarily before venturing over. The magazine laid neatly upon some crumbled trash, it's title still managing to capture his attention with only one glance. Carefully the little boy peered into the bin and scanned over the cover, noting for the first time the smaller subtitle below the bolder print.

_'Are You A Believer?'_

Those four words had him mesmerized, the question echoing softly in his mind. He didn't even notice that he had reached into the bin and that the magazine was held in his small hands once again.

Blinking, he shook his head and turned the magazine over to check the back; expecting to find a clue as to where it had originated from. To his surprise and curiosity, there was no corporation visibly listed, no number to contact, and no address to write to.

He sighed and turned it back over, only to find that the subtitle had changed.

_'Do You Still Believe?'_

Dib's eyes grew large and he found his head nodding 'I do'.

He turned the magazine over a second time and could hardly control his excitement upon seeing the simple information glistening in front of him; just a name, a number, and web site.

_'The Swollen Eyeball Network.'_

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**Yep...made Dib a little older so that the reading thing would be more believable (He's a smart kid anyway). Don't hold out for a third chapter...but if inspiration strikes, who knows.**

**Thanks for reading and just let me know what you thought.**


	3. Sidekick

**Enjoy!**

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"This is it, Gaz," Eight-year-old Dib said as he placed a set of large headphones over his ears and adjusted a dial on what looked to be some kind of small satellite dish. 

His little sister, Gaz, looked up from her spot on the back yard patio and frowned.

"You're gonna be in big trouble when Dad finds out you took dis stuff from his labs," She warned him.

Dib looked down at her from his spot atop the garage roof and seemed unconcerned.

"Come on, Gaz. Dad doesn't even use this stuff," He told her. "I bet he won't even notice it's missing."

Gaz rolled her eyes.

"Just keep quiet up there," She warned. "I'm try'n to play dis game."

Dib looked down as she fiddled with her new GameSlave and frowned.

"How can you think about that stupid game when there's discoveries to be made?" He asked.

Gaz grunted and glared up at him.

"How would you like to discover my fist in your face?" She asked.

Dib sighed, pretty use to his sister threats by now.

"Just warn me if ya see dad, okay?"

Gaz shrugged and Dib was too preoccupied to really take notice; besides, what were the chances their dad would be around anyway?

"I think the signals too weak," Dib said turning a few knobs before glancing up. "Hows it suppose to reach into space?"

Gaz didn't reply, but Dib had gotten into a habit of thinking out loud, so she wasn't even sure he was talking to her at all.

She glanced up as Dib tried to move higher onto the slanted roof, dragging Dad's device along with him.

"Hey!" Dib said, excited. "I think I'm gettin' something!"

He stood up and strained to hear through the headphones static, only catching bits and pieces of some kind of announcement.

"... -egin ...Elite..-oldiers... assigning...-orld conquest...-pending..-oom"

Dib took a step forward trying to get a better signal, but he lost his footing and with a startled cry he began to slid down the slanted roof. He barely managed to catch himself before he fell, his legs dangling over the side of the roof and his dads equipment crashing on the concrete below; the headphones falling off along with his glasses.

"Gaz!" He yelled, not being able to see in order to pull himself up.

His sister had already been alerted by the devices loud crash to the ground, and was more than a little frustrated that it had cost her the game.

She let out a low growl, but much to her brothers surprise she rushed over to stand directly below him

"GAZ, HURRY!" Dib yelled his grip on the roof top slipping."I'm gonna fall!"

"Told ya you'd get in trouble." She scolded him. "And you made me loose my game."

"Gaaaazzz!" Dib whined, terrified that he was going to fall. "Get the ladder, hurry!"

He heard her shift below him and a loud clang followed as the ladder, placed near the end of the roof, hit the ground; Gaz let out a small 'oops', but Dib didn't think she sounded too concerned.

"GAZ!"

"Stop whinin'!" Gaz snapped. "It's not that far down."

Dib's hands slipped further, so that he was just holding on with his fingers. In his panic he didn't even hear Gaz's words before she ran into the house.

'Oh no'

He dared to look below him, perhaps the fall wasn't so far, but without his glasses everything looked blurry; and it only scared him even more.

"GAZ, COME BACK!"

His fingers began to slip more...just at his fingertips now...

'I can't hold on'

He closed his eyes tight, bracing himself for the fall, he lost his grip and...

Nothing.

He hadn't even felt the sensation of falling for more than second when he felt a pair of hands grabbing his waist from behind. he gasped and looked back, and even though his vision was still blurry he could make out his fathers video display screen, two mechanical arms extending outward and keeping him from hitting the ground. When he felt himself being lowered, and his feet touched the ground, he let out a relieved breath.

"Son, what on Earth do you think you were doing?" Came his father's voice.

He looked up at it, though he could only vaguely make out his father's figure on the screen.

"I..I'm sorry, dad, I was just..."

"You know better than to take my equipment without asking," His father cut him off. "And you have no business on the roof at this hour."

"What hour?" Dib couldn't help but ask. "It's only four."

He heard someone shout something at his dad from behind him, and his father looked over and nodded.

"I don't have time for this right now, son." He told him, not looking back up. "We will discuss your behavior when I get home."

Dib frowned and the screen went blank; he didn't like it when his dad was upset with him, but he also knew that he wouldn't get punished; his dad probably wouldn't even be home that night.

"Told ya you'd get in trouble." Came Gaz's voice as she came to stand beside him, but she didn't sound as mocking as she usually did.

He didn't answer her and after a moment she let out an aggravated grunt.

"Here."

He felt her shove his glasses onto his face and blinked at her now glaring face.

"That way you can see how angry I am." She told him. "You made me lose on level 23, Dib. LEVEL 23!!"

He grinned nervously at his sister rage.

"You got anything to say for yourself? Huh?"

Dib grinned widely, his fear forgotten.

"I made contact, Gaz! I'm sure of it!" He exclaimed. "I bet I could even fix dad's machine and find the signal again. Isn't that cool?!"

Gaz's left eye twitched slightly in annoyance and she turned to stomp away.

"Next time I'm just gonna let ya fall!" she called back to him.

He blinked; so that's how dad knew where he was? He would have to thank Gaz later.

He grinned as another idea came to him.

"Hey, GAZ?! You wanna be my sidekick?!"

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**Okay...there are two reason's why I wrote this.**

**1) When I watched the first episode today and saw Dib on his roof with those headphones, and another episode where Dib says 'She's sorta my sidekick' I wanted to have some kind of background info on it. **

**yeah...I know, not much of a reason.**

**2) I wanted to involve Gaz in the story a little more , and I knew this had potential; though I still involved Prof.Membrane...who I think should be tied in with all of it.**

**please tell me what ya think!**


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